Colleton fire director survives stray bullet

WALTERBORO — A DVD in Barry McRoy's jacket pocket stopped a stray bullet from piercing his stomach Saturday during a shooting at a crowded Waffle House.

McRoy, director of Colleton County's Fire and Rescue Department, was shot while trapped in a breezeway with two men struggling over a gun.

The man who allegedly brought the gun into the restaurant suffered a head wound but survived and is in jail without bond, authorities said.

The DVD, a gift from an employee who had recorded a TV show about fire extinguishers, didn't fare so well and neither did its case.

McRoy walked away with only a bruise to his stomach. "I was saved by a DVD," McRoy said Monday. "How lucky can you get?"

McRoy went to the Bells Highway Waffle House in Walterboro early Saturday after spending much of that morning helping put out a house fire. The restaurant was packed with young people, many of whom had been at clubs all night, McRoy said.

At about 6 a.m. he got up to leave, opening a door in the breezeway for another customer. Just as he was about to walk out of the restaurant, two more men ran inside, knocking McRoy and the other customer against the glass.

The two men were fighting over something. McRoy said he never had a chance to react and never saw the gun until it discharged, ringing out loudly in the glass enclosure. "I just heard the bang," McRoy said. "It all happened in about 15 seconds."

Maj. Ken Dasen of the Walterboro Police Department said the bullet grazed the suspect's head, shattered the glass window and then ricocheted into McRoy's abdomen.

The other customer and the man who had been attempting to wrestle the gun away from the suspect when it fired were unhurt.

McRoy said everyone started running at the sound of the gunshot. He went outside and called police and then checked on the suspect, who was bleeding from the head.

McRoy didn't know he had been shot until he was telling a police officer what happened.

"I felt something like being hit in the stomach and assumed it was the percussion from the discharged firearm," he said.

Then he saw a hole in his jacket. He put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a handful of shattered plastic. The disc was nicked.

He then found a piece of the bullet. All were kept as evidence. McRoy was just happy he was in one piece. "I'm sure a bullet to the stomach would have hurt," he said, laughing.

Dasen said the man with the gun was charged with two counts of assault and battery with intent to kill and other gun-related charges. He is a known member of a gang, but it was not known whether the incident was gang-motivated.

The man who took the gun away from the suspect after it was fired was not charged.

Reach Andy Paras at 745-5891 or aparas@postandcourier.com.